Last Steel Installed at Irving’s Navy Build Yard

Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Mark Installation of Last Steel in Facility to Build Navy’s New Combat Fleet

The Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding today marked the installation of the final piece of steel frame for the Assembly and Ultra Hall Production facility that will produce the Navy’s newest combat fleet starting in September 2015. The Honorable Diane Finley, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada and the Honorable Peter MacKay, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Canada and Minister Responsible for Nova Scotia joined Irving Shipbuilding’s executive team and provincial and municipal leaders to celebrate the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) milestone.

“The Government of Canada congratulates Irving Shipbuilding on the important progress being made on this facility. Through our Government's commitment to providing state of the art equipment for our men and women in uniform, we are providing jobs and economic opportunities for families across the province,” said Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister Responsible for Nova Scotia. “As Nova Scotians, we can be proud of the pivotal role our province is playing in our country's National Shipbuilding Strategy.”

“We’re extremely pleased with the progress on our facilities and are confident we’ll be ready to start building in September of next year,” said Kevin McCoy, President, Irving Shipbuilding. “We expect our buildings to be weather tight by the end of this year, when we’ll shift our focus to the interior and the incredible amount of work left to make them production-ready. The men and women of Irving Shipbuilding certainly can’t wait to get started.”

“The Government of Nova Scotia congratulates Irving Shipbuilding and the Government of Canada on this important milestone,” said Nova Scotia Environment Minister Andrew Younger. “Nova Scotia is proud to be known around the world for our shipbuilding abilities, and we are pleased to be a partner in making sure we maximize the benefits of this project for our economy and our communities now, and into the future.”

“We’d like to take the opportunity to thank the more than 3,000 direct and indirect employees across Canada estimated to be involved in NSPS-related work based on our commitments alone. They’re working on updating and modernizing our yard and facilities, they’re building us new systems and equipment, and they’re doing all the preparatory design, planning and procurement work to make the first set of ships go as smoothly as possible,” added McCoy. “It’s been said often that a defense program of this magnitude extends far beyond the shipyard itself. We have certainly seen evidence of that, even at these still early stages.”

Irving Shipbuilding has committed more than $310 million in Canada to date in contracts, procurement, goods and services related to the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), including both the Yard Modernization program and the work underway on the AOPS Definition Contract. A full 47%, or $146 million, of that commitment has been made in Nova Scotia, engaging companies owned or operating in the province in our supply chain. This commitment has created more than 1,500 full time equivalent (FTE) positions in Nova Scotia with our company, with our suppliers and with their direct suppliers and $75 million in employment income. In addition, it has generated $21 million in local, provincial and federal taxes paid, as well as $56 million in consumer spending over a two-year period.

Across Canada, the NSPS commitment to date has boosted Canadian gross domestic product (GDP) by $255 million, created more than 3,000 full time equivalent (FTE) positions across Canada (direct and indirect) and generated $187 million worth of employment income in the country over a two-year period. It has also generated more than $139 million worth of consumer spending and approximately $63 million worth of taxes for federal, provincial and local governments.

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